Feed-roll.



Patonted Dsc. 2*, |902.

No. 7I5,04I..

G. A. ENSIGN.

FEED ROLL.

(Application led Sept. 6, 1902.)

(No Model.)

INVENTO? W/ TNESSES.'

UNiTnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.y

GEORGE A. FNSIGN, OF DEFIANCE, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO DEFIANCE MACHINE WORKS, OF DEFIANCE, OHIO.

FEED-ROLL..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 715,041, dated December 2, 1902,

Application filed September 6, 1902. Serial No. 122,354. (No model.)

To cl/ZZ whom it may oon/cern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. ENSIGN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Defiance, in the county of Defiance and State of Ohio, have invented a new and Improved Feed-Roll, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The invention is an improvement in that class of feed-in rolls for wood-planing or other to surfacing machines in which a series of individual rollers are so mounted upon a rotary shaft by means of intermediate non-rotatable hubs and so acted upon by springs as to allow them to yield to accommodate strips or pieces of lumber which are of different thicknesses without unduly straining the roll-supporting shaft.

The invention consists of novel features and parts and combinations of the same, as

2o will be more fully described hereinafter and then pointed out in the claims.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which 2 5 similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both views.

Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of the improvement as applied, the section being on the line l 1 of Fig. 2; and Fig. 2 is a trans- Verse section of the same on the line 2 2 of Fig. l.

On a fixed shaftAare mounted a plurality of feed-rollers arranged one alongside the' other and having independent bodily-sliding 3 5 movement on the shaft-that is to say, a movement transversely of the shaft and preferably vertically or in an up-and-down directioneach roller having its rim positively and independently driven to insure a positive 4o feeding of the strips, pieces, or boards, as hereinafter more fully described. The shaft A is T-shaped in cross-section and extends through enlarged openings B, formed in the hubs B of the rollers, the said openings having a portion of their side walls fitted against portions of the sides of the shaft A to form bearings for the hubs to slide up and down on the shaft.

On each of the hubs B is mounted to turn 5o loosely a roller-rim O, formed with peripheral gear-teeth O', arranged within the peripheral face of the rim and preferably at or near the middle thereof, as plainly indicated in Fig. 2, the said gear-teeth O being in mesh with a pinion D, secured on a driven shaft E, located to one side of the rollers, so that the teeth of each pinion D are in mesh with the gear-teeth C' of the rim at angles to the line of bodily movement of the rollers on the shaft, so that the said bodily movement of the rollers does 6o not interfere with or disturb the proper meshing of the gear-teeth C' and pinion D.

The hubs B and their rims C are normally held in a lowermost position relative to the shaft A by springs F, preferably arranged in pairs, one for each hub, the upper ends of the springs resting against the under side of the side flanges or arms A of the shaft A, while the lower ends of the said springs rest on shoulders B2, forming portions of the bottom 7o walls of the openings B', as plainly indicated in Fig. l. Now by the arrangement described the springs F for each roller are located on opposite sides of the central web of the shaft A, and the aggregate strength of the said springs is suiiicient to allow of using the rollers ifor very heavy work without danger of in j uring the springs, and consequently the rollers, and at the same time allowing considerable yielding movement of the hubs B and 8o rims C relative to the stationary shaft A. By the arrangement described the roller-rims C and their hubs B are free to yield upwardly when feeding pieces or strips H, of lumber, boards, or other articles, over the bed J of the planing or surfacing machine, and as the said rims are positively driven it is evident that a positive feeding of the said strips or pieces I-I takes place.

Having thus described my invention, I 9o claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination, with a rotary shaft which is T-shaped in cross-section, of a circular hub applied thereto and having a transverse opening with whose sides both the enlarged head and reduced lower end or arm of the shaft work in sliding contact, a spring interposed between the head of the shaft and an abutment of the hub, and a toothed anloo nular rim mounted to turn on said hub and having its periphery suitably constructed for engagement With the driving-roll, as shown and described.

2. A feed-roll comprising a shaft T-shaped in cross-section, hubs held against turning movement on the said shaft but free to slide up and down on the shaft, rims mounted to turn on the hubs, and springs interposed between the arms of the shaft and shoulders on the hubs, the springs being arranged in pairs,

xo one for each hub, and the springs of a pair being disposed on opposite sides of the web of the shaft, Within a recess formed inthe corresponding hub, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of r 5 two subscribing Witnesses. s

GEORGE A. ENSIGN. Witnesses:

JOSEPH BAUER, GEO. W. DEATRICK. 

